Bittersweet Dreams
by Faeith
Summary: When Xiao Lan falls ill and chooses to log onto Second Life anyway, she soon discovers that what effects her also effects Prince. As she struggles to make it through every day activities, her friends take notice and begin to worry for her safety. GuiXLan
1. Chapter 1

**Bittersweet Dreams**

_Story Notes: I just recently discovered ½ Prince and I am already in love with it. Just thought I would see how this story would be received before I finish it. Also the song that Gui sings briefly is Goodnight, My Angel by Billy Joel. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy. Any suggestions are definitely welcome!_

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Xiao Lan leaned heavily against the vertical bar in the bus as she tried to keep her balance through the dizzy spell she was experiencing. Earlier that morning she had decided to go to school even though she had struggled to get out of bed. The night before she had started to feel ill, but she thought that if she pressed through it that she would start feeling better later on in the day. She had quickly come to regret that choice as class after class went by and she struggled to even catch the general idea behind each lesson.

The bus came to a halting stop causing Xiao Lan stumble. She blushed in embarrassment as she accidentally crashed into a stranger. The woman glared at her throughout her apology and Xiao Lan was grateful when she made it down the stairs and onto steady ground. Unfortunately, it still felt as though the ground was moving underneath her. Xiao Lan groaned aloud and covered her for a moment to steady herself. All she had to do was get home and then she would be able to lay down... Yang Ming had thankfully gone over to Zhuo Ling's house to "study" and spend the night. Although it would have been nice not to have to spend the night alone, it was also a far better option than being hounded by her brother to cook dinner when she was feeling like this.

She began the slow process of getting to her family's apartment, and was slightly aware of the glowers she received from passing housewives. While she tried her best to keep her balance she couldn't prevent herself from swaying back and forth as she walked, and she could only presume that they thought she was a drunk. Just one more reason to hurry home she supposed.

Xiao Lan finally spotted her building and thanked the stars that she was familiar enough with the way that she didn't get lost while distracted. She sped up her pace slightly only to stumble as she reached the door. For a moment she allowed herself to take a breath before pushing forward. So close. She promised herself that once she got up the elevator and into the apartment she would immediately lay down. Lay down and let herself settle in for another night of Second Life. Through her dizziness Xiao Lan smiled even as she pressed the button for her floor and leaned against the wall as the elevator began to rise. It would be nice to see everyone and not feel so sick... Among other things the strength that Second Life gave her was something she deeply appreciated. Her character Prince liberated her in many ways and allowed her to respond however she wished. The responsibilities and difficulties that came along the way were nothing in comparison to that.

As she stumbled out of the elevator she fumbled to get her key out so that she could open the door. She dropped them and was horrified when tears started to leak out of her eyes. Her head pounded as she bent down to grab them and could only be grateful that no one saw her in the midst of her weakness. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door and let herself in before closing and leaning against it. The dizziness that she had been fighting all day seemed to be increasing tenfold and she struggled to fight the nausea that came with it. Xiao Lan struggled with herself for a moment, she was so close... She pushed against the hard wood of the door, stumbled into her room, and fell down face first on her bed. There she took a few deep breaths before turning her head so that she could see the Second Life console waiting for her. For a moment she considered not brothering, just letting herself drift off.

Xiao Lan jerked herself out of the stupor she had fallen into. She might not have the strength to get up or even to just get changed out of her school clothes, but she could reach over and get the Second Life console. She wanted to see everyone. No, she needed to see everyone.

With a sigh Xiao Lan felt the slight falling sensation as she fell to sleep and became Prince once again.

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><p>When Prince opened his eyes he instantly noticed how empty the courtyard felt where he had last logged out. Usually by the time he normally logged in a good portion of Second Lifes population had already done so. This was something that Prince hadn't particularly thought about aside from eagerly looking forward to going to bed and getting done from the load of homework that he had every night. As it was it was still early to be on in Second Life and Prince groaned as he realized he would be left to his own devices until everyone else began to log on.<p>

Looking around Prince could see a few castle guards that he was pretty sure were just NPC's hired to protect Infinite City while most of its citizens were away. He made another noise of disgruntlement and decided that since everyone was gone away he would just go and train for a bit. Taking a step forward while calling out for Kenshin, Prince was startled when he stumbled. He caught himself easily and kept walking, but he felt a wave of consternation at the event. In Second Life he was strong. Whatever was wrong with him in real life would have no impact on him here Xiao Lan firmly told himself.

Prince spotted a flash of red as Kenshin made his way over to him. A smile spread on his face and he quickly let Kenshin know about his intentions to train for the next few hours until the others logged on.

"Where do you wish to go then?"

"Um..." Prince hadn't actually thought that far along in his plans. Where ever he went it should probably be close by. He supposed that he could call Sunshine as well so they could fly... The thought of it made Prince feel lightheaded.

"Are you alright Prince?"

Prince looked up and realized he had been holding his head in one of his hands. "Yeah perfectly! Sorry just thinking about something... lets just head North and see what we find, eh?"

Kenshin looked slightly dubious about this, but nodded his head anyway. They both stood silently for a moment.

Prince flushed a bit as he realized that Kenshin was waiting for him to start off. "Ah, maybe its better for you to lead Kenshin... everyone knows that am not the best with directions." So that may have been a bit of an understatement and usually Prince wouldn't hesitate to lead (and be corrected), but today... Prince braced himself and started walking behind Kenshin. There was nothing wrong with him, his health and energy stats were fully charged and he was ready to start earning some xp.

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><p>Alright so maybe that hadn't been the brightest idea. Kenshin and him had run into some run of the mill monsters that were on the low end for Prince's level. However, that hadn't prevented Prince was getting his ass trashed over and over again. Kenshin had repeatedly needed to intervene before Prince died and lost a level. Prince flopped down on the grass and threw his arm across his eyes to block out the sun. What was wrong with him?<p>

Except that was a question that Prince or Xiao Lan already knew the answer to. His reaction times were down easily by half. He was having a hard time concentrating. And worse yet all he wanted to do was rest. Prince fisted his hand and banged it against the ground. It was ridiculous his body was already resting!Why was his game play being affected? He had all this extra time that she normally wouldn't and it was all being wasted...

Beside him, Kenshin sat quietly staring off into the distance. Prince gradually regained his breath and downed his last health potion. "Your teammates are likely logging on soon." Kenshin quietly reminded Prince. The self-aware NPC had said nothing about Prince's current lack of ability.

"Yeah, I guess we should head back." Prince didn't really want to get up. The idea of walking back to Infinite City right now was almost too much after failing so badly at training.

"Do you... should we call Sunshine to pick us up maybe?" Prince felt even more of a failure for saying that, but with the option available he was almost desperate to take it. Playing Second Life while sick was becoming less and less appealing and if it weren't for seeing his friends Prince knew he would have probably logged off at that moment.

"I have messaged him and he will be here in a few minutes." Kenshin's reply was simple and to the point but caused Prince to look over at his strange friend. The NPC glanced at him and then looked away without a word. Prince sighed and pushed himself up so that he was seated beside the Demon Lord. Somehow he had managed to worry even Kenshin.

"Sorry, I am just off my game today." Kenshin said nothing in return. They waited quietly side by side until the spotted Sunshine's magic carpet in the distance.

As Sunshine shot down on his carpet to meet them Prince remembered that he hadn't wanted to ride on the carpet that day. He stared hard at the carpet, trying to get up the gumption to actually get on after having Sunshine come all the way out. Unlike Kenshin, though, Sunshine had no qualms about not saying anything about Prince's odd behavior.

"What is wrong Prince? Kenshin said that we should get you back to Infinite City right away. Did you have spell placed on you? Did you drink poison? Nothing shows up when I look at your stats. Kenshin, whats wrong with Prince?"

Kenshin was now glaring at Sunshine slightly and Prince felt another blush coming on. He wondered what the normally reserved Kenshin had said when he whispered Sunshine. "Nothing's wrong, I just wasn't feeling well when I logged on and I guess its affecting my game play." Might as well be up front and stop the NPC's from worrying if there was some kind of strange new game virus or something that came from a new patch.

At his words Kenshin's frame seemed to relax slightly and Prince wondered a bit what had been running through the NPC's mind. Sunshine on the other hand began to verbally expound upon his every thought on the matter. Prince didn't pay attention to most of it until Sunshine asked a question. He unfortunately didn't catch most of it and had to ask Sunshine to repeat himself. "Should you be in Second Life when your not feeling well on the other side?"

Prince frowned and rested his chin in his hand as he looked away. "I thought it would be fine," he grumbled a bit before continuing, "Anyway, I just want to see everyone for a bit, as long as I don't do any fighting I don't see how it can affect me." Prince didn't look over to see the critical looks on both Sunshine and Kenshin's faces.

"Are we almost there yet?" While Prince kept telling himself firmly that the nausea wasn't real it certainly felt like it and he wanted desperately to be on firm ground again.

"Yes..." Sunshine seemed to hesitate before continuing, "I will drop us off at the tower so that you don't need to go through any of the crowds." That was an idea that Prince could get behind. That and the fact that not climbing all those stairs was sounding awfully good at the moment. Prince nodded even as he tried to hide a scowl. The way his fever in real life was affecting him even in game play was extremely frustrating. He was supposed to be strong and untouchable here, and it was all being taken away. Prince rubbed at his head, even the headache that she thought she had gotten away from was starting to appear in Second Life.

Sunshine had taken the carpet directly to Prince's room at the top of the tower (the security was only slightly less than that of the crystal room) and as the carpet settled down Prince stumbled off and would have fallen face first on the floor if Kenshin hadn't caught him last second. The NPC was clearly frowning now and Prince once again flushed in embarrassment as he muttered a quick thank you. Kenshin helped Prince stand up and he was frustrated to note that even after the NPC helped him he was leaning towards one side.

"Do you want us to call one of your friends for you?" Kenshin asked with a surprisingly disapproving look as Prince stumbled off to the side of the room to lean against a pillar.

"No, no its fine, I will call them in a minute. Just need to catch my breath." Prince was slowly catching on to the fact that the same symptoms that he had been experiencing in real life were slowly appearing in Second Life. Prince scowled, it was probably something that the programmers had put in the game just to spite people like him.

Suddenly the door crashed open and Gui came running through with his arms spread open wide. "Oh my eternal love! It seemed to be a sweet dream when I saw your handsome visage in the sky as I stood in the courtyard. I ran with haste so that I could bask in your presence. Love! Your highness! Let us embrace and cherish one another till the end of time!" Gui clearly intended to wrap his arms around him and smother him to death if he had the option. Normally, Prince's instant reaction would range anywhere from a simple upper-cut of the jaw (that would send Gui flying) to beating Gui to his last breath. It just depended on his current stress level and the need to relieve it. However, as it was, when Gui's arms came around Prince, instead of the beating that Gui was surely expecting, Prince simply melted into his arms, letting Gui hold him.

Much to Princes amusement this seemed to freeze Gui up almost immediately. "Your Highness?" Gui's muscles lax muscles became tight with tension and Prince simultaneously rolled his eyes while trying to move away since it wasn't as comfortable as he thought it might have been. This however was not successful as Prince could feel his energy fleeing and the strength that he did put into it was not enough to break Gui's frozen embrace.

Prince let his head fall back on Gui's shoulder and sighed. This was bad, he didn't want to give Gui the wrong impression, he really should beat the man up for even attempting to hug him. Prince closed his eyes, "Gui, let me go." He didn't have the energy to do anything more. If he had to maybe he could order Kenshin to take Gui down for him...

Gui seemed to regain function of his limbs and moved away from Prince while still holding him at arms length. "Your highness?" He asked again, before looking over at Sunshine and Kenshin who were still in the room. Gui suddenly had a serious face of concern that reminded Prince more of her professor than the friend she had in Gui. "What is wrong with Prince?" This time he clearly addressed the NPC's while looking back and forth between them and studying Prince.

Sunshine immediately began sputtering on about all of the symptoms that Prince had been showing, but Kenshin interrupted and quickly told Gui what Prince had said earlier. A stormy expression appeared on Gui's face.

"Why did you get on Second Life when you were feeling ill?" Gui asked him seriously. He was being way to serious. Prince liked it better when Gui acted stupid and he could respond normally. He didn't know how to react now with Gui contemplating him so seriously. Prince flushed and shrugged out of Gui's light hold and wandered towards one of the chairs that had been placed in the room before flopping down with the rest of his energy. He muttered something under his breath that he was sure no one else would have been able to hear.

"What was that?" Gui still was so serious and now was kneeing next to her. When did he get over here anyway?

"I said that I just wanted to see everyone, okay?" Prince scowled at Gui before shutting his eyes and rubbing his head. His headache was just getting worse. Suddenly Gui's hand was guiding his own away from his head and Prince blinked wide-eyed as the man got even closer. What was he...?

Gui put his other hand against Prince's forehead and his frown deepened even further. "Prince you have a fever, and a high one at that from what I can feel even in the game."

"Hmm, so?" Prince let his head flop down and rest against Gui's cool hand.

"So if you had read Second Life's rule book or any virtual reality game for that matter you would know that its strongly recommended that you don't play when ill, particularly with a fever."

Prince groaned, "That's a stupid rule, all I want to do is play... is that why they have it set so that your symptoms start showing up in game play? That's a really annoying thing to do..."

Gui shook his head. "No, the reason why they explicitly put that rule in the rule book and even on the package as a warning is because when someone has a fever their mind is impacted as much as the rest of their body. It means that the game itself has very little to no control over what the player feels unless its something that the player is directly interacting with inside the game." Gui trailed off at the look of confusion on Prince's face. "Your not getting any of this are you?" Prince shook his head slightly before wincing at the effect the movement had on his head.

"Why do I feel so awful?" He groaned and moved away from Gui's hand to curl in on himself. He could feel Gui's hand in his hair, petting him gently as he replied. "Your feeling this way cause its what your feeling in real life... Prince you should log off and tell someone that your feeling ill so that they can take care of you." There were mixed emotions in Gui's voice that Prince couldn't find it within himself to try and translate.

"Hmm I don't want to. I am sleeping anyway so I should feel better in the morning when I wake up."

"Your highness, my love, look at me." Gui lifted Prince's chin up so that they were eye to eye. Prince felt the stirring of annoyance, but couldn't will himself to muster anything more. "Listen to me carefully, normally when you are sick your body is able to go in and out of rest as you need to. And you would be able to feel it if you were getting worse and respond even if you were settled down for the night. However when you are in Second Life you are here until you log off, and the only way for your mind to tell you there is something wrong is through the symptoms that you are feeling right now."

Prince twisted his head and curled back into himself. "I'll be fine." He grumbled. He wished that his head would stop pounding, it felt like there a pound of lead inside it, but all the same he wasn't _that_ sick either. Distantly she heard the door open and shut as Sunshine and Kenshin left.

For a moment Prince thought that Gui was giving up before the older man finally spoke with a restrained voice even has his worry clearly carried through. "Prince do you not remember on the news-the cases of individuals from The World having to be hospitalized because they neglected themselves so that they could play?"

Prince didn't bother replying this time, just sighed and tried to breath through the banging in his head. Of course he knew about those cases... his mom and dad had hounded him and his brother about it until the safety measures were put in place that stopped individuals from playing more than 13 hours in a day. Hardly anyone ever came up against that time limit, but it was something that had carried over into Second Life as well. Besides that, he was sick... it wasn't like she was wasting away in her bed like those people had been.

Gui was saying something again, but Prince wasn't really listening. With a gaspshe realized that Gui was picking him up bridal style and was carrying him somewhere. He smacked his chest with as much energy that He could muster. Which honestly wasn't very much, but was grateful when he finally sat her down on the bed that he had hardly touched previously.

"Oh..."she let out a breath of relief as he settled into the soft mattress. Maybe he should start ending and starting game play here... it was very very soft.

Gui was moving away. "Where are you going?" The man stopped and knelt down beside him again. Gui was very nice looking. He smiled at him. "I was trying to contact Wicked... he seems to know you in real life and I thought maybe he could contact someone close to you about your illness."

Even as sick as Prince was feeling at the moment, the idea of Gui willingly contacting Wicked to do something that he couldn't was shocking. "Seriously?" Prince asked wide eyed. Gui nodded but seemed distracted.

"It seems that he is off the game currently... is there anyone else who knows who you are in reality Prince?"

For a moment Prince wasn't sure what to say. Gui had to be really worried to be willing to try contacting Wicked... on the other hand Xiao Lan really didn't want Gui to know that people _he_ knew in real life were the same that knew _her_. "Um..." he looked away from Gui's worried expression and then back to Gui again. He didn't feel good enough for this... there wasn't anyone around anyway, maybe he should just log off so that Gui would be happy...

"No your highness!" Oh he must have been talking aloud. Suck. "It's important that you have someone there to take care of you!" Gui's concern was coming a crossed in his voice loud and clear now. "Just wait a moment. You have known Lolidragon for the longest out of all of us, if you won't tell me maybe you will tell her." Gui's expression went distant for a moment before focusing back on Prince. "She'll be here in ten minutes."

Prince made a unhappy expression, but there wasn't much he could do in his current position. There didn't seem much of a point to staying logged in and he felt tired anyway. How ridiculous was that? Feeling tired when he was sleeping? Her eyes drooped half closed.

Well if he was staying he might as well be productive. He slowly lifted up her arm and flopped it against Gui's chest. "Hey why don't we practice for the concert while we are waiting or something?" He mumbled. Gui looked at him incredulously in response.

He flopped her arm against him a second time and closed her eyes. "Come on... sing that new song that you have been making so that I can get a feel of it." While he was feeling miserable he might as well make the best of it. Gui was staying silent though, and he tried not to let a pout grow on his face just as Gui finally started to sing.

_"Good night my angel, time to close you eyes And save these questions for another day..."_

For a few moments Xiao Lan struggled to place where he had heard the song before, since he most definitely had. (So it was definitely not the song that Gui was supposed to be creating...).

_"I think I know what you've been asking me I think you know what I've been trying to say"_

Prince gave up and allowed himself to just listen to Gui's rich tenor and soothe him into a gentle peace. Though he wasn't actually falling asleep, he thought that if you could sleep in Second Life without logging out that's what he would be doing.

He was jolted out of his semi-rest when the door of the room banged open for the second time that day and Gui's voice immediately stopped. Prince simultaneously grabbed hold of his head and tried to hold it together so it wouldn't fall apart like it felt like it was doing. "What are you thinking?" Lolidragon's angry roar echoed in the room and Prince couldn't help but groan in response.

"Gui said that you won't contact anyone to help you?" Lolidragon seemed to have no compunction against continuing to yell despite Prince's pitiful whimpers. It seemed to suddenly stop however and turned in serious whispers exchanged between Lolidragon and Gui that ended with Gui leaving the room.

"Why haven't you contact anyone yet Prince! I know that you can be stubborn, but being this sick while in Second Life is serious!"

Prince frowned and against his better judgement asked, "Why?"

Lolidragon scowled furiously at her friend, "You didn't read the instruction manual or warnings at all did you?" She got a blank look in return. "Whatever your feeling right now in real life its at least double..." Lolidragon grudgingly told her. "Second Life is made to primarily focus on what you feel in this world... but it can't block out what you feel in reality entirely. That means if you feel this sick here you have got to be seriously sick in real life. Now who can I message? I already tried your brother and Wicked but they are both not on..."

"Hmm they won't be for a while probably, if at all, they are having a guys night and probably getting up to mischief.."

"Who else then?"

Prince felt reluctant to say any thing more... there was no body, but he supposed he should log off so that Gui and Lolidragon wouldn't keep worrying about him... Maybe he could lie and say that he would tell her parents when he woke up from the game. It was admittedly bad timing that they had left for another "honeymoon".

"What about Jing or Yun? They are your friends in real life right?" The pitch of Lolidragon's voice was slowly getting higher.

"Jing is visiting her grandma, and invited Yun along with..." Prince said tiredly.

"And they didn't invite you?" Lolidragon sounds incredulous.

"I wasn't feeling good so I turned Jing down."

There was a clatter as Lolidragon kicked one of the chairs in the room sending it flying into the wall.

"So your telling me that we are waiting on your brother to hopefully log on sometime tonight then?" Lolidragon sounded incredibly frustrated and Prince winced at the distress she was causing her friends. It was time to use her back up... too bad too since even with as bad as she was feeling she was still enjoying their company.

"No no... look I will just log off... I swear I will tell my parents okay?"

"Wait your parents are home! Why didn't you just log off in the first place then! You stupid kid..." Lolidragon was a bit scary when she was upset and Prince decided the best option was for her to log off sooner rather than later.

"Tell Gui I'll be fine."

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><p>The instant that Xiao Lan woke up she nearly cried as her head pounded. It had definitely been much much better and less painful in Second Life than here. She whimpered as she curled up in a ball and tried to wait it out. She wished she could just go back, after all there was nothing for her here but the pain.<p>

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A/N: Thanks for reading! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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><p>.<p>

Yang Ming laughed as he greedily scooped up his winnings from Zhuo-dage. Despite Zhuo-dage being older and supposedly wiser Yang Ming had successfully wiped the floor with him in Poker.

"Do you want to play again Zhuo-dage? Maybe this time you will be able to earn back some of your hard earned cash eh?" Yang Ming couldn't help but grin eagerly as he thought of cleaning out the older man's wallet.

Zhuo-dage groaned, "You have got to be joking me. Yang Ming, you have a deceptively good poker face." He stared hard at his friend before breaking out into a smile. "Either way I don't think I want to try to take you in another game. Let's just say I have learned my lesson."

Yang Ming laughed and got up along with Zhuo-dage before swinging his arm around his friend. "Haha, its good that you aren't a poor sport Zhuo-dage."

Rolling his eyes Zhuo-dage shrugged off Yang Ming, "Yeah yeah, you are buying lunch tomorrow though. I am going to be living with a tight budget for the next week or two."

With a grin Yang Ming replied, "Tell you what, I will do you one better. Tomorrow I invite you to come over to my home for some dinner. Xiao Lan will be cooking which means it will definitely be delicious.

This caught Zhuo-dage's attention and with a smile he agreed, "I suppose that's a fair trade for losing three consecutive games."

Yang Ming laughed again and pounded his friend on the back. "Should we get ready for bed then and see what is going on in Second Life? I should also probably tell Xiao Lan that you will be coming so that she can buy more groceries in the morning."

Zhuo-dage stretched and nodded. "I think that would be a good idea, hopefully Xiao Lan hasn't been bothered by that Gui fellow too much." A scowl crept up on his face as he mentioned the other player. The way that man tried to hang off Prince was inexplicably irritating and only the fact that Prince beat up the man on his/her own prevented Zhuo-dage from attempting to do so. Either way it would be nice to be able to be close to Xiao Lan through Prince even for a few hours, and even better if he was able to be with her the following day.

After completing their nightly activities Zhuo-dage and Yang Ming settled down on their respective futons. Both took out their Second Life consoles to begin playing. Neither one expected the greeting they would receive once inside the game.

Yang Ming had only been in the game seconds before he received several messages and whispers from several different individuals. Startled, he took a few steps back as he tried to make sense of it all. Lolidragon had sent several messages and was currently trying to whisper him so he decided to address her first.

"Wu Qing! Where have you been?" Lolidragon's angry voice came across loud and clear.

"What? Why? Did something happen?" Yang Ming hardly thought that a few hours later than his normal log-on time could have much consequence, but with Second Life you never knew. Particularly when in Infinite City...

"We needed you hours ago! Prince logged off and we have been waiting for someone to get on who knows her in real life, except _everyone seemed to have taken the weekend off_!"

Wu Qing winced, "What are you talking about, why would Prince log off?" InternallyWu Qing wondered why Lolidragon knew that he knew Prince in real life. And people said that he couldn't keep his mouth shut...

"Prince got on Second Life while he was sick and since his symptoms were really bad in game I am worried that he must be really ill. Why did you leave your sister when she was feeling so awful anyway?" Lolidragon's angry voice was giving way to concern and it sent a jolt of worry down Wu Qing's spine. Xiao Lan was sick? He hadn't noticed anything... well Xiao Lan had looked a bit out of it today in class, but he had thought she had just been day dreaming again.

"Eh, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary." Wu Qing hesitantly said.

There was silence from Lolidragon for a moment before a growl came across the PM, "Wu Qing you go check on your sister right now or so help me..."

Wu Qing didn't get to hear the rest as he cut off the PM and looked over at Wicked to tell him that he was going to log off and head back to his home. Before he could though Wicked was quickly telling him that he had checked his messages and was aware of what was happening.

"I want to go with you, and its too late to ride the bus back anyway. I will drive."

Wu Qing nodded and wasted no time logging off. His stupid sister sounded like she was in trouble, hopefully it was nothing, but if it wasn't he needed to be there.

Gui was aware of the instant that Wicked logged in. It had been hours since Prince had logged off Second Life after telling Lolidragon that his parents would be taking care of him. Unfortunately when the thief told Gui this he instantly informed Lolidragon what Prince had informed him of (on accident) earlier. That he was, most likely, totally alone. This of course had put both of them into a panic which only increased as more time went by. In order to occupy himself Gui had resorted to messaging Wicked who was still off-line in the hopes that it would speed along the process of getting someone to Prince in the real world. Still, time had gone by slowly while Gui waited and pacing was no more comforting in Second Life than in reality. Especially since Gui nor Lolidragon had any idea if Wicked would get on any time soon.

Of course Gui had had his suspicions on it just being Wicked that Lolidragon was communicating with. He was fairly confident that while she probably didn't know Prince in real life, she was very much informed of Prince's private matters. It was something that Gui tried not to be jealous of, especially not when it might make a difference in helping Prince.

Once Wicked was online though all the buildup of waiting seemed rather anti-climatic as within minutes the warrior had logged back off without a word. Gui had the strong urge to punch something. Prince had better be okay... Gui turned to Lolidragon who had finished her PM moments ago and was tapping her fingers restlessly against the table she sat at.

"Well did you get a hold of him?" Gui wondered if Wicked had just read a few of his messages and not even bothered with the waiting whispers targeted at him.

"Yeah, yeah. Wu Qing is on his way now... If that stupid idiot has gotten himself even more sick by playing I swear I am going to kill him."

Gui didn't doubt it, but that wasn't what sent a bolt of shock through him. Wu Qing knew Prince in real life as well?

Yang Ming yawned once he and Zhuo-dage made it to the car and started driving back to his place. It was nearly one in the morning and like most of the population he was used to getting as much sleep as he could due to Second Life and other sleep based games. As such while staying up late wasn't totally a foreign concept it wasn't something he particularly welcomed either. Glancing over at Zhuo-dage however he was happy to note that at least the driver seemed wide awake.

They were only a few minutes away, but it seemed like it was taking forever. Wicked had been able to find out more than Yang Ming by simply reading his messages and had let him know what the situation was as soon as they were on their way. Apparently Xiao Lan had appeared to be pretty sick even in game, which in turn meant that she was probably doing atrociously in real life. It also didn't help that she had apparently logged off to stop Lolidragon and Gui from worrying, but in reality had made it worse because they had discovered that she was alone. Yang Ming wasn't sure if he wanted to curse himself for not noticing or his sister for not mentioning anything.

Finally they pulled up to the house and wasted no time going through the apartment complex up to the story where Yang Ming and his family lived. Zhuo-dage waited impatiently while Yang Ming opened the door. Seconds later they were both through the door and barging into Xiao Lan's room. Yang Ming fully expected to see his sister curled up on the bed, maybe asleep, but very very sick either way. So when Wicked and he took in the site of a empty if rumbled bed they were both stumped for an instant.

"Where is she?" Zhuo-dage asked confused, still looking at the bed like it held all the answers.

Yang Ming turned to reply that he had no idea when out of the corner of his eye he caught a shadowy figure standing behind them. With a undignified yelp Yang Ming swung around and flailed his arms in what he hoped seemed to be a threatening manner. Zhuo-dage sensing his alarm reacted similarly though to Yang Ming's slight annoyance he seemed much more calm about it.

It took a second for what Yang Ming was seeing to make sense, "Xiao Lan?"

His sister stood in front of them still in her school clothes which in itself was odd since she usually changed almost immediately once she got home. After studying Xiao Lan for a second though Yang Ming quickly realized that her eyes were glazed over and that she was swaying from side to side.

Before Yang Ming could do anything else except stare stupidly, his sister began tilting forward and Yang Ming stumbled forward to catch her before lowering her to the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" Zhuo-dage asked wide eyed and they both stared at each other at a loss for a second.

Yang Ming glanced away and tried to figure out what to do. Usually out of the two of them he would get sick first and Xiao Lan would take care of him before succumbing to whatever illness was going around. And then by the time Yang Ming was getting better Xiao Lan was as well... Yang Ming didn't have any experience at all taking care of someone sick and from the looks of things Zhuo-dage didn't either.

"Um..." Xiao Lan was breathing heavily and there was a clear rasping sound every time she tried. Yang Ming tried to not let it creep him out as it sounded a bit like that last horror movie they had watched together. Finally he decided to try what his mother and sister always did to him when he was sick. He felt Xiao Lan's forehead.

"Well?" Zhuo-dage asked.

"Eh... I have no idea? She feels really hot... I don't know... I will call my parents!" Yang Ming hurried to get up and grab the phone.

"...Should we really just leave her there?" Zhuo-dage asked doubtfully. Xiao Lan laid approximately where she had fallen, part way through the doorway of her room.

"Oh yeah, go ahead and move her to the bed." Yang Ming waved dismissively as he dialed his parent's number. It was likely that Xiao Lan would be miserable no matter where she was laying, but for now they would do what they could.

Yang Ming was horribly dismayed when the phone rang to the answering machine even as Zhuo-dage managed to get Xiao Lan up on the bed.

"What was she doing walking around if she was so sick anyway?" Zhuo-dage asked quietly as he sat next to Xiao Lan on the bed. The way he was studying her made Yang Ming slightly uncomfortable. Xiao Lan certainly had plenty of people who liked her...

"I don't think that she was really aware of it..." At this Zhuo-dage glanced up with a questioning look.

Yang Ming tried not to be embarrassed as he answered truthfully. "Sometimes in our family when one of us gets really sick we tend to sleep walk. I don't know why."

Zhuo-dage didn't say anything in return but Yang Ming could see the incredulous look on his face. Yang Ming ignored it and instead focused on deciding what to do for Xiao Lan. She was obviously extremely sick and hadn't responded to anything that had gone on since they arrived.

Yang Ming settled on his decision. "I think we should take Xiao Lan to the hospital."

Zhuo-dage's eyes widened. "You think that she is that bad off?"

Yang Ming scowled and hesitated, he had no idea, but his sister needed help now and he couldn't give it. "Yes. Lets go."

Almost immediately Zhuo-dage moved to be the one to pick Xiao Lan up. Hopefully they would get to the hospital quickly and find out what was wrong with his sister.

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><p>.<p>

Once the three of them had gotten to the hospital Yang Ming was dismayed to have a clipboard of papers shoved at him and his sister taken away. When he tried to follow, the supervising nurse simply replied that they needed the information that he knew and that as soon as he was done filling out the paper work he would be allowed to be with his sister. Frustrated, but acknowledging the point he tried to get Zhuo-dage to go with Xiao Lan in place of himself, but that was also rebuffed.

As Yang Ming tried to fill out paperwork which he had no idea how to answer he cursed the relatives only rule that the hospital had in place. Xiao Lan had still been really out of it when they had gotten to the hospital and Yang Ming would have felt better if at least one of them had been able to stay with her. During the car ride over the heated press of her body against his side had increased his worry exponentially. She hadn't responded to any of his rude comments, and her wheezing breath still sounded exactly like those zombies... Yang Ming shook his head and tried to maintain focus on the paper in front of him. Xiao Lan was fine. It was probably nothing, he was just overreacting because he had never seen his sister like that before...

At the head desk a nurse called out for Feng Lan's relatives. Both Yang Ming and Zhuo-dage got up quickly to find out what they could. Xiao Lan was probably coming out of it right now and he would get to yell at her for ruining his guys night in just a few minutes.

The nurse who had called Xiao Lan's name looked at them both seriously.

"Are you done with the paperwork that we gave you?" Yang Ming felt a surge of annoyance, but quickly nodded and handed over the clipboard. He had filled out everything he knew anyway.

"Very well you can sit back down then." Yang Ming and Zhuo-dage gaped at the rusty old nurse.

Zhuo-dage beat him to the punch. "You've got to be kidding. We have been waiting here for an hour. How is Xiao Lan doing? Is she alright?"

The nurse frowned darkly at them. "I have not been updated of the details. As far as I am aware Feng Lan is very sick and is currently being treated by Dr. Chen who will speak with you two as soon as he is able. Until then I must ask for you to _sit down._"

Even with the firm glare the old woman was aiming at them neither of them were willing to back down. "How sick is she? Do you know whats wrong?" Yang Ming rushed ask.

The woman seemed to have had enough and moved her focus back to the computer that was in front of her. "Obviously she has a fever, I don't know what else. Now go back to your seat I have other individuals I need to speak to." With that she suddenly bellowed out for the relatives of someone else, leaving Zhuo-dage and himself to shuffle out of the way as they rushed to the service desk.

Zhuo-dage glared furiously and Yang Ming barely stopped him from yelling and causing a scene. After a moment Zhuo-dage seemed to finally relent and gestured for them both to return to the chairs that they had been waiting in a few moments before. Yang Ming couldn't stand the idea of it. Instead he went over to the vending machine and looked through it for a drink. Even with as worried as he was it was nearing three in the morning and he would need caffeine of some sort to keep going. He would stay up all night if he had to. Stupid sister.

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><p>.<p>

To say that Infinite City or to be more specific the Odd squad was in chaos would be a bit of an understatement. Wolf had logged on that night expecting to train with Yu Lian for a few hours and then go over the further development of the military of Infinite City with Nan Gong Zui and Wicked. Usually his schedule was quite the opposite as Yu Lian generally insisted on work first, but Wicked had specifically asked to postpone the meeting.

This all would have been fine. Would have been fine if disaster hadn't struck at the very heart of Infinite City, Prince himself. It seemed as though while Yu Lian and himself had been training back at the tower Gui and Lolidragon had met up with a very sick Prince. The ensuing antics had apparently lead to Prince logging off which again would have been fine if not for the fact that it came out that Prince had no one with him. At present, they were still waiting on some members of Dark Phantom who apparently knew Prince in reality. Hence the chaos that was taking place was primarily due to Gui running around and freaking out everyone he ran into with the idea that Prince was possibly dying.

Wolf heaved a breath. Gui needed to be stopped.

"Gui!" It wasn't often that Wolf lowered his voice and demanded to be listened to, but it appeared no one else was going to even _try_ to get Gui under control so it was up to him.

The bard froze in his tracks even as he had been making his way towards Fair Sky and Rose who had just entered the giant hall. No doubt he had been about to inform them melodramatically that Prince was going to die if they didn't do something soon. Whatever action Gui would have them take however was missing completely from the only thing they had been able to do was contact Wicked and apparently Wu Qing and let them know so that _they _could help Prince. The frustrating thing was that they couldn't get in any information back from either of them since they were logged off once again. This meant that everyone, and in particularly Gui, had no news of how Prince was doing.

Returning to his normal voice he asked, "Gui why don't you come over here." Alright, so perhaps it was less of a question and more of a command.

Looking a little bit cowed Gui slowly came over. Noticing that several different parties seemed interested in what he had to say including the odd squad Wolf decided it would be better just to whisper Gui.

"Hey, I know that your worried, but you need to stop this. Your scaring Doll." That wasn't the only person that Gui was frightening, but Gui would take the most notice of her.

Gui visibly seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry, but the way Prince was acting..."

Behind Gui Wolf could see Rose and Fair Sky getting a much calmer update from Lolidragon, though it sounded like there was a mix of insults to Prince mixed in.

"I am sure that Prince is fine Gui, he probably just needs time to recover. We all get sick, and now that someone knows about it Prince will be taken care of."

Instead of the flash of slight jealousy that Wolf expected at the reference to Wicked, Gui instead just looked more depressed if possible.

"Wolf you don't understand." He paused. "Prince let me hug him!" Gui looked pleadingly at Wolf to try and make him understand.

It took Wolf a few seconds to school his expression so that he wouldn't give away just how amused that made him. "So? He obviously didn't feel like giving you the beating that you were asking for. You and Lolidragon said that he was tired."

"No... It was like Prince didn't even think of hitting me. Like he would have just collapsed if I hadn't been standing there. If that is happening in the game then... I need to know whats going on Wolf!" The last part Gui hadn't even bothered to whisper.

Wolf frowned. There was merit to what Gui was saying, but they needed to keep it together until they were able to find out more. He hoped that Wicked and Wu Qing would get back on soon. For everyone's peace of mind.

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* * *

><p>.<p>

Zhuo Ling flipped through an old gamers magazine that had been left to help occupy those stuck in the waiting room. It had been over two hours since they had last seen Xiao Lan and he couldn't help but wonder what could could be taking so long. Maybe Xiao Lan had contracted a rare virus? Or maybe it was pneumonia... what were the symptoms for pneumonia? The message that Gui had sent him had been a bad sign, just by the fact that Gui was asking for help in the first place, let alone what it had said about how Prince was acting. Combine that with finding Xiao Lan the way they did, unresponsive and feverish... Zhuo Ling had no trouble admitting to himself that he felt a bit panicked. What if Xiao Lan was dying and it was too late because no one had noticed she had fallen ill?

At first it didn't register when the nurse called out for the relatives of Xiao Lan to come to the service desk. There had been so many calls that they seemed to blend into each other, but then Yang Ming's head abruptly snapped down from where the man had been staring blankly at the ceiling. They stared each other, wondering if they had imagined it, but then the call came again for Xiao Lan's family. The nurses voice had turned from the monotoned drone into annoyance at those who were keeping her waiting.

The two of them raced to the service desk. Would they finally find out what was wrong with Xiao Lan?

The old woman nurse who at this point was on the list of the worst people Zhuo Ling had ever met rolled her eyes. She turned and pointed towards and old tired looking man in a doctors outfit who was standing to the side. "There that's Dr. Chen, he will inform you of Feng Lan's status." She then glared at them clearly saying that they were no longer welcome in the waiting room.

Even as Zhuo Ling wanted to tell the nurse exactly what he thought of her attitude in a hospital of all places he would be more than grateful if they could leave the waiting room and be with Xiao Lan instead.

"Sir? How is my sister doing? Is she alright?" Yang Ming had sidled up to the doctor and asked his questions rapid fire, leaving no time for the doctor to respond.

The doctor seemed somewhat distracted as he answered, "Oh yes, you are Feng Yang Ming correct? Yes I am sorry about not getting back with you sooner, the hospital was very busy tonight you see and i am already over on my shift by half an hour." At this the doctor looked down at his watch as if to emphasise the point.

Yang Ming and his own expression turned slightly incredulous at this. "Yes, I am Feng Yang Ming, and I am sorry about your time, but doctor, how is my sister?"

The doctor looked disinterested, "She's fine. She came in with a high fever in addition to a case of Mononucleosis, but you should be able to take her home in the morning."

Zhuo Ling felt his heart beat stutter. "What do you mean Mononucleosis? Is it serious? Will she be alright?"

Dr. Chen looked bemused, "Well I would think so, we have her on anti-bacterials and fluids now so as long as she takes it easy for the next few days I don't see why she can't be up and running soon enough." The man paused, "Now if you don't mind I have got to be going..."

"Wait!" Yang Ming grabbed hold of the doctor's jacket. "What _is_ Mononucleosis?"

The doctor glared and shrugged him off. "Mononucleosis." The doctor stated as if Yang Ming was stupid for asking, "Is also known as Mono, or sometimes referenced to as the kissing disease. Understand?" The doctor seemed to be somewhat amused at the common name for it.

"Whhaaat?" Yang Ming yelped. My sister got a disease from kissing someone! Both Zhuo Ling and Yang Ming's jaws dropped. When had this happened?

Dr. Chen rolled his eyes. "Most likely not. Although its possible, Mononucleosis is only referred to as such because it requires close contact or sometimes saliva to infect others. Your sister most likely caught it from someone she knows."

Zhuo Ling and Yang Ming exchanged glances. Who in the world?

"Now lets see, since Feng Lan's fever was high when she came in we do want to keep her for a few more hours, but normally its really not needed to bring someone with Mononucleosis to the hospital." The doctor seemed to think something over. "Since you two seemed to be lacking... information about this illness, I will ask the nurse to provide you with some pamphlets for home care etc."

The doctor hurried over to the service desk and interrupted the old nurse. He gestured towards something behind the desk and with a noise of annoyance the woman quickly ran through some files and pulled out a stack of pamphlets and sheets. She shoved them towards the doctor with some words that Zhuo Ling couldn't hear.

Without pause the doctor in turn shoved the pile into Yang Ming's hands. "Alright then, your sister is in room 1138, the nurses will be checking up on her every half hour to make sure that her fever doesn't spike. Normally visiting hours are from 7:00-18:00 so you can go home now and get some rest. And so can I for that matter." The last part was muttered.

Zhuo Ling couldn't help but feel relieved that Xiao Lan was going to be okay, but he still wanted to see her to make sure for himself.

Yang Ming beat him to the punch though, "Can't I just see my sister for a few minutes? We have been waiting..."

The doctor cut him off. "No, I am afraid not. Now why don't you head along and come back in a few hours. I am not sure if Nurse Goh can handle you in her waiting room for much longer." With that he glanced over to the glaring old nurse at the service desk before turning around and walking out of the room without another word.

"Hey wait!" Yang Ming called out, but it was already too late.

They stood side by side for a few moments. "Well at least we found out she was alright." Zhuo Ling offered.

Yang Ming snorted. "Yeah, I suppose. I am going to kill that sister of mine when she gets out! Ohhh I need to sleep." And with that Yang Ming led the way out of the waiting room and back to the car.

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* * *

><p>.<p>

Unfortunately for those in Second Life, neither of them would be bothering to log back on that night.

Unaware of the chaos and worry that she was causing Xiao Lan shivered miserably in her hospital bed. She couldn't remember how she got there, but the ice bath they had given her had shot her into awareness no problem. It felt like her whole body was rebelling against her.

Xiao Lan took another shuddering breath. It was so hard to breath here and it hurt so much. How air could feel like needles going down her throat was beyond her, but she wanted it to stop. Xiao Lan inhaled and then held her breath. It was still painful, her lungs struggling to move, but it felt better than before. Suddenly there was a blaring beeping sounding from somewhere to the right of her. Xiao Lan startled and exhaled. She gave up and tried to take another breath in spite of the pain. Her eyes widened as she felt her throat tighten even further. She couldn't breath!

There were yells coming down the hall and figures entering her room. Their shadows chased Xiao Lan into sleep and echoed through her dreams. Where were her friends? Where was Gui?

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><p>.<p>

A/N: So Xiao Lan has Mono of all things. I am kinda curious as to whether anyone reading the story has had it before. I thankfully have only known people who have caught it. Anyway hope you enjoyed, and I will try my best to get out the next chapter as soon as possible! Oh and don't worry, Gui will feature much more in the next chapter ;) Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey everyone! I am really sorry about taking so long to update. I know I said just a few days so it was definitely a fail on my part . I had been hoping that I would have enough time in my last week in the states to do so, and time just seemed to speed up on me. Now that I am in Taiwan I am hoping that I will be able to update quickly again, though probably not as quickly as before since I am still settling in. Hope you enjoy this chapter! J

Chapter 3

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><p>.<p>

Wan Feng Hospital was totally unprepared for the ire of the parents of Feng Lan who suddenly appeared at six in the morning. The nurse at the service desk who had only been there for an hour tried to quietly placate them. This attempt quickly ended as her actions only seemed to back fire. They wanted to see their daughter and they wanted to see her now.

The young nurse nervously looked around for someone to save her. Unfortunately there was no one in the immediate vicinity. A flash of hope went through her eyes.

"Just one moment please, I will need to talk with my supervisor." While this wasn't actually true, and didn't seem to calm the Fengs it still gave her the excuse to quickly leave the room. As she walked down the hall hoping to spot someone to help, she felt her heart rise as Doctor Dreamy came into view.

"Oh! Dr. Li! I am terribly sorry, but I have some angry parents at the front desk who are demanding to see their daughter." She gave her best try to seem like a maiden in distress. Maybe she could get him to go get coffee with her later on as a reward...

The doctor looked up from his paperwork. His expression was quizzical, "It's only an hour until visiting hours, just let them in."

"What? But Dr. Chen expressly said that there weren't to be any exceptions."

Dr. Li rolled his eyes and walked towards her. She felt a flutter in her chest. He continued on right past her. "Dr. Chen has a stick shoved where the sun don't shine. Where are the parents, I will take responsibility."

"Oh?" The nurse exclaimed. "You think that is the best? Surely we can put them off for another hour. Or rather you can, after all, you are so charismatic." She batted her eyes winningly, only to be dismayed as it went unnoticed.

"No, no, why bother with that. It will be less trouble to all of us if we just let them see their daughter. Who is it by the way?" He asked the last part as he swung through the double doors entering the visiting center.

The nurse frowned. "Its Feng Lan's parents. They are right over there." She said pointing at the couple who were quickly storming over from there to here.

It looked like she would have to try with Dr. Li another day. "Ah, I will just let you handle this then. I should get back to work." This was another thing that she didn't feel was true. She could have easily talked to him all day if he had given her the time. Ah well, there were people waiting anyway. "Oh by the way the patient's room is 1138."

* * *

><p>Dr. Li wasn't sure what he was expecting when he agreed to handle the two parents of a patient on that floor, but it wasn't what he got. The instant the Fengs stepped into his radius both looked ready to go for blood.<p>

"I demand that you let me see my daughter immediately! Do you think its funny to call the parents of an ill child at four in the morning and tell them that their daughter is in the hospital? Yeah I didn't think so, I swear I will call the mayor if I have too!" The mother was glaring daggers at him and never seemed to pause for breath.

Simultaneously, the father was giving his own cut down, "Let us see our daughter! We are her parents and we demand that you give full disclosure about what is wrong as well. That woman wouldn't tell us a thing, and we waited patiently enough, but now you will tell us everything. We will not take no for an answer. I will call the police and reporters to let them know what you're doing to the patients in this hospital."

Dr. Li took a step back stunned. "Hold on, hold on!" The parents seemed to be set on a path of destruction however and took no notice of his attempt to calm them.

"Listen!" Dr. Li shouted.

For a moment afterwards everyone included Dr. Li stood stunned. Just as Dr. Li saw the Feng parents begin to recover and start again he began. "I am deeply sorry about the wait you have been put through. Unfortunately, the hospital does have very strict rules about the waiting times." Dr. Li saw that Mr. Feng was about to interupt. "BUT, I am willing to let you see your daughter now. The nurse said that it was Feng Lan in room 1138?"

At this both parents seemed to relax. Dr. Li was stunned when they went from looking rather frightening and large to a slim romantic couple who smiled intimidatingly . Though this still had frosty layer underneath.

"Yes, thats my Xiao Lan, now which direction?" The mother looked at him expectantly. Clearly impatient now that she had permission to see her daughter.

"Ah well its just past these doors..." The couple instantly set off and the doctor had to hurry to catch up. "I will walk with you to the room, since I am the one of supervising doctors on this floor I can check on your daughters condition."

"Wonderful" The father stated in a distracted tone.

Dr. Li sighed. Well at least the parents were happy even if this was more work than Dr. Li really wanted to go through at this time of the morning.

They made good time to the room and the parents rushed in. Dr. Li was thankful to see that they didn't make noise as they did since their daughter was currently asleep. The more patients who were able to rest the better, Dr. Li thought, but family was important too, which the hospital seemed to forget sometimes.

"Alright lets see," Dr. Li walked over to the medical pad that would contain Feng Lan's medical information. "I will be able to give you an update on your daughter in just a moment. The Feng parents nodded, but only seemed to have eyes for their daughter which was fine with Dr. Li. They were whispering quietly and gently feeling Feng Lan's forehead for a fever that was still present.

In the meantime Dr. Li zipped through the medical pad. Well he could at least understand why the parents were so worried. They had been contacted earlier that morning after the son had brought the daughter to the hospital with a fever. The two of them had apparently been away on vacation and had most likely flown back the instant the got the call from the hospital. Dr. Li frowned at the timing, the hospital should have called the instant the girl was brought into the hospital since her parents were required emergency contacts, but it had taken a few hours.

Dr. Li moved on to the actual medical history. What was done was done... for now at least. He frowned as he zoomed through, well that had been informative.

"Mr. & Mrs. Feng?" The parents spared him a glance. "I have the update of your daughters condition." This time the Feng parents seemed to zone in on him with an intensity that made him want to shy away.

Dr. Li stood his ground. "Your daughter was brought in by her brother and what looks to be his friend. They apparently found her at your home with a high fever and made the right choice of bringing her here. She has mononucleosis and while this does not normally require hospitalization, Feng Lan had an unfortunate complication which made it very important that she was had the hospital while she had it."

"What? What happened?" Feng Lan's mother spoke softly so as to not disturb her daughter, but the worry was clear in her voice.

"Very rarely when someone has mononucleosis they can develop respiratory difficulties. That's what seems to have occurred in Feng Lan's case. Thankfully we were able to stablize her quickly and she only went without air for a few seconds. As it is however, instead of having Feng Lan stay over night we would rather she stay until Sunday so that we can give her more antibiotics and get her past the worst of the disease."

The parents were nodding wide eyed. "Yes of course, whatever my daughter needs." The mother gently caressed her daughters head.

"Yes well, I am not sure how much you know about mononucleosis, but I can get any information that you need. Unfortunately I need to go and check on other patients, will you to be alright here?"

The Feng parents hurriedly nodded. "Alright then I will leave you to visit with your daughter. If she seems to be having an difficulties or if you need a nurse, there is a call button right here." Dr. Li pointed to a yellow button next to the bed. "I will see you in a few hours then."

Dr. Li took note of the doctor who had taken over for Dr. Chen. He winced slightly, he could just imagine the future conflict between the patient's parents and Dr. Wu. Thankfully it wouldn't be too difficult to get the older man to switch.

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><p>Yang Ming jumped out of the car as soon as Zhuo-dage pulled up. He inwardly cursed Xiao Lan. Going back to Zhou-dage's to try to sleep had been a futile experince, and now there were heavily bags resting under his eyes. Much was the same for his friend. In the end they had decided to just go get breakfast before going back to the hospital. As soon as the clock hit seven, they were both going to be going to visit Xiao Lan. Yang Ming redirected his mental cursing towards the hospital, if only they had let the two of them see Xiao Lan, to see she was doing alright, the night would have probably not sucked as bad as it had.<p>

They headed into the waiting room and Yang Ming was grateful to note that waiting staff had been changed out for a beautiful young lady. Well there was at least something he could distract himself with in the last five minutes they had to wait. He cooly made his way to the desk.

Zhuo-dage surpassed him.

Yang Ming blinked in surprise even as Zhuo-dage began asking about Xiao Lan.

"Surely you can let us in a few minutes early. We have been waiting all night." Zhuo-dage had an expression of determination on his face, and the young nurse seemed a bit stunned.

"Oh well... I suppose it would be fine. Her parents are in there right now, however..."

Yang Ming felt a zing of alarm go through him. Their parents were there? But he hadn't called them! Well he had, but they hadn't picked up. How did they find out? Yang Ming didn't bother to listen to anymore of the conversation. Within moments he was plowing through the doors separating the waiting room from the rest of the hospital. Room 1138. It couldn't be that hard to find.

Turned out it was.

Zhuo-dage had caught up with him a few seconds later, and they both had wandered the maze of corridores until a nurse had spotted them. The man had disproved them just wandering about, but it seemed to have passed seven while they were lost so he quickly guided them to Xiao Lan's room.

Yang Ming was embarrassed to note that it looked like they had probably passed it two or three times. It hadn't helped that the room number had been slightly hidden by a fire extinguisher though!

The two of them burst into the room. Instantly the eyes of the three occupants zeroed in on what had caused all the commotion. Yang Ming was relieved to note that Xiao Lan was awake and seemingly aware, even if there was a huge plastic contraption strapped to her face. What? Yang Ming's eyes widened. Hadn't it just been mono... whatever it was. Why did Xiao Lan need help breathing?

Meanwhile Yang Ming parents barely reacted to their son's appearance. "Oh, hello Yang Ming." His father didn't even bother to look up.

Yang Ming struggled not to roll his eyes. He looked around briefly for a chair that was not taken, but came up with nothing. Instead he walked over to the bed, and after making sure that he wouldn't actually sit on Xiao Lan, flopped down casually.

"Yang Ming!" His mother cried indignantly. "Your sister is sick, get off that bed!"

A childish urge to stick out his tongue ran through Yang Ming, but he was able to resist. Instead he patted Xiao Lan on the arm and asked as casually as he could, "So what's wrong with my sister? I thought she just had the kissing curse."

The entire room seemed to glare at him.

"Don't be childish, Yang Ming!" His father finally spoke. "Anyway your poor sister obviously has been doing things without telling us." At this he turned towards Xiao Lan again and grabbed her hand gently. "Now Xiao Lan, it's important that you confide in us these things. Who is the man who cursed you?"

Xiao Lan's eyes widened indignantly. She clearly wanted to say something but when she tried nothing came out. Instead to had to settle for simply glaring hard at her father and shaking her head in a hard no. Yang Ming grinned in the background. It was good to see that his sister was well enough to tease at least.

Throughout this Zhuo-dage began to looking exceedingly uncomfortable as he continued to stand by the door. "Is she okay? Why does she have an air respirator like that? I thought it was just mono?" Yang Ming was innerly glad that Zhuo-dage had asked his questions for him.

Yang Ming's parents began to look more serious again. "It seems that Xiao Lan had a rare reaction and had difficulty breathing last night. We will be talking to the doctor again soon, but I suspect that Xiao Lan will have to stay here for another night or two until they can be sure she is breathing fine." His mother replied as she turned her attention back to Xiao Lan.

Yang Ming frowned. He didn't like Xiao Lan in the hospital. It felt too dangerous to him. He remembered the last time she had been here… Yang Ming shook it off. It was going to be fine, once Xiao Lan no longer had problems breathing he would be able to tease her back at home like normal. A horrible thought occurred to him then. Who would cook?

Ugg, he inwardly groaned. Their family had Xiao Lan cook for a reason. Both him and his father would likely burn down the kitchen in an attempt, and though no one would admit it, Lang Ming would rather eat his father's burnt toast than his mother's meals. They were all going to starve.

Soon after Yang Ming arrived his sister had fallen asleep. The room had noticeably lost much of its energy until the doctor walked in hours later.

"Well I must say Xiao Lan has significantly approved, although I suspect that you are feeling extremely tired still?" The doctor addressed Xiao Lan who had finally woken up.

Xiao Lan nodded, but seemed determined to point to the mask over her face. Her arm dropped like a rock right afterwards.

"Yes, I think we will be able to take the oxygen mask off now. It's still important that we continue to monitor your breathing for any difficulties, but so far you have shown a lot of progress."

The doctor gently lifted up Xiao Lan's head. Yang Ming couldn't see what he was doing exactly, but when he was done he lifted off the oxygen mask from Xiao Lan. "Alright then, Xiao Lan even though the mask is off I still don't want you to talk for the next few hours at least alright?"

Xiao Lan nodded looking frustrated.

The doctor spoke again, "I bet your throat is pretty parched eh?" This time there was a much more eager nod and Xiao Lan seemed to simultaneously look around for water. A soft smile grew on the doctors face. Magically a tall glass of water with a straw seemed to appear in his hand. Yang Ming looked around confused as to where he had gotten it.

"Okay, I am going to give this to your mother here and she can help you drink it. You already know how to work the bed so that you are sitting up, but if you're want to sleep just gesture to have your parents lower it back down." The doctor looked towards Yang Ming's mom and handed her the cup.

"Here you are. To refill the glass just go to the cabinet there is a tank there that should have plenty for everyone if you would like." Yang Ming finally looked to the back of the room that had been mainly unnoticed since it was the furthest from Xiao Lan.

"Wonderful" Yang Ming's mom quickly grabbed the glass and held it for Xiao Lan who took grateful sips. He winced a little bit at the thought of how dry her throat must have been.

"Alright then, now that that is done I want to go through what Xiao Lan's treatment is going to be for the next while. This is confidential so I am afraid that I am going to have to ask that you to leave temporarily." Yang Ming was stunned to realized that the doctor was asking him and Zhou-dage to leave.

"What? No! Mom, Dad, tell him that we can stay." Yang Ming stared determinedly at his parents sure that they would back him up. What was the doctor thinking?

His mother sighed, "You two better go. Get some food from the cafeteria or something."

Yang Ming couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why couldn't he hear what was going on with his sister? He had a right to know. Maybe it was Zhou-dage.

"Zhou-dage why don't you get going. I will catch up with you in a few."

Yang Ming's mother narrowed her eyes. "You too Yang Ming. Now get going, your father and I need to talk to Doctor Lin."

Yang Ming glowered in return. He was an adult and his parents still treated him like a kid! He turned around and slammed out of the room. It wasn't like he wouldn't find out what was going on anyway! Xiao Lan would be listening and she always ended up telling him everything even if it was without meaning to.

He nodded in satisfaction. Soon enough Xiao Lan would be back home and everything would be back to normal.

* * *

><p>Xiao Lan couldn't help but feeling impatient even as exhaustion pulled at her. Although she had been asleep for a good majority of her hospital visit so far she was desperate to get out. It wasn't too bad when everyone was around, although they kept making references to a kissing disease which annoyed her to no end. She may have kissed in the game, but this was real life and she had most definitely not! She wasn't sure if anyone believed her though.<p>

The room was darkly lit around her. It was these times that were the worst. When it was night, and the visiting hours were over and she woke up anyway. She looked over at the glass that her mother had left on the nightstand beside her bed. Concentrating she slowly lifted up her hand, focusing solely on the water in front of her. She grasped the glass in her hands and lifted. She was going to get it!

Her grasp slipped and she watched horrified as the glass tumbled down, crashing first against the bed and then clattering down on the floor. She slammed her head back against the pillow. Xiao Lan hated being so weak. She had tried so hard for so long to be strong and now she was weaker than ever. She didn't want to be alone anymore.

A nurse came swiftly into the room and flicked on the light when she saw that Xiao Lan was awake. "Oh, what you done now child?" The woman seemed kind if gently reprimanding. She took in the scene before her and then continued, "Your too weak right now. If you want some water just press the call button." The nurse quickly grabbed the glass and replaced it with a new one filled with water and a straw. At the same time she pressed the button to raise Xiao Lan into a seated position.

"I hate being so weak." Xiao Lan muttered under her breath. She was so sick of being ill. It would have been much better to get sick all at once rather than have this drawn out disease.

The nurse seemed to hear her, but was kind enough to ignore it. Instead she continued to hold the glass for Xiao Lan as she picked up her medical tablet and began reading.

"Lets see, looks from this that you are through the worst of it now. Your fever has gone down quite a bit and you are responding to the antibiotics. Soon enough you will be released I am sure. I bet you will be grateful to get out of the hospital! Goodness knows that people recover from these types of things better in their own homes."

Xiao Lan swallowed her last sip before letting the straw fall out of her mouth. "Do you know when the doctor is saying I can leave?"

"Well, you got in on Friday night, and Saturday went fairly well. We are just keeping you here until we can be sure that you will not have any more respiratory difficulties as those can be extremely dangerous. I would say that the doctor will probably release you either today or on Monday."

Xiao Lan wasn't sure how to feel about that, "So I won't miss any school then?"

The nurse gave a kind smile, "No I am afraid that you will most likely miss several weeks. Mono is a long term illness that makes you weak for some time before you can fully recover. You will have several doctors appointments as we check your progress and make sure that you don't develop any more complications."

Xiao Lan was horrified. She was going to be as weak as she was now for weeks? What about Second Life? She needed to be able to see everyone, and she had responsibilities as well! How would she be able to fight?

"I can't be sick for that long! I have school and things I need to do!" Her voice cracked.

The woman clicked her tongue, "No need to get so upset. You will be able to have a home tutor provided by your school to help you keep up on your coursework. Plus I am sure you will find other ways of entertaining yourself during this time. It's just important that you don't over strain yourself."

"What about Second Life?" The nurse looked surprised.

"I don't see how there would be anything wrong with it. You will have to check with the doctor first but many of our patients play Second Life. It is generally considered therapeutic."

"Won't I be..." Xiao Lan paused, "too weak to play well?"

The old nurse smiled kindly and patted Xiao Lan on the shoulder. "Played Second Life before you came to the hospital eh? Well it might have a slight impact on your game play, but nothing near what you feel in real life. You will also get stronger as time goes by, I wouldn't worry about it too much."

Xiao Lan felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. Even though she was sure that her brother and Zhou-dage had gotten online since she arrived in the hospital to let everyone else know that she wouldn't be on for a bit she still wanted to explain the situation herself. Gui was probably being his over dramatic self, perhaps writing sonnets. A small smile appearing of Xiao Lan's face and the nurse seemed to take that as a good sign.

"Alright then dear, I should get going and I am sure that you will fall asleep soon. Just press that button if you wake up and would like another drink."

The woman quickly exited the room.

Despite being dead tired Xiao Lan wished the nurse hadn't left so quickly. Second Life had made it so she was no longer used to being alone. Especially when she did not choose to be so. Soon though she would be able get online and go back to the life she had created for herself.

With that comforting thought in mind she let herself drift to sleep.

* * *

><p>Gui stared sightlessly at the paperwork in front of him. The rest of the Odd squad had eventually ganged up on him and forced him to retreat to his "office". Gui hated it.<p>

Usually the work that Yu Lian gave to him was easy if somewhat dull compared to being with Prince, but today he could barely stand it. When Prince had looked so ill in game, he had been desperate to find someone to help him. And then he could barely get a word out of Wicked or Wu Qing. It was absolutely frustrating.

Gui wondered when Prince would get back and if there was any point to staying on Second Life without him there. The answer was yes, or at least Gui kept telling himself that. Second Life seemed to have reverted back to its one-dimensional self that Gui had first perceived when he had begun playing at the beginning.

How long would it take for Prince to be back? It was already Sunday night and there were only a few more hours left before Gui would need to wake. How could Prince be so sick that he couldn't even login? Had Gui's overdramatic reaction been on the spot? Was Prince dying?

Gui firmly shook his head. He needed to stop doing this to himself. He tried to refocus on the paperwork in front of him. Instead he ended up beginning to write and still thinking about Prince in the back of his head. Somehow the younger man had gotten him completely wrapped around his finger without even trying.

By the time Gui heard the melodic tone of his alarm to get up he was surprised to noticed that every single assignment given to him had been finished. In terms of quality he could not be sure, but Yu Lian could not say he was behind any longer. If Prince had been around Gui would be ecstatic, but as it was he just felt the emptiness in Second Life grow.

He could only hope that tomorrow would be the day.

* * *

><p>In the end Xiao Lan had been forced to stay in the hospital until late Monday afternoon much to her family's displeasure. On Sunday Dr. Li said that he wanted her to have one more night of observation and antibiotics before checking out, but that she would be able to do so the following morning. As time continued to drag on and Xiao Lan's parents continued to have difficulty getting hold of medical staff, Xiao Lan tried her best to be patient, but failed. In the end she had fallen asleep and been unaware of most of the things going on. It had been disconcerting to wake up to the sunset when it felt like just a few minutes to her.<p>

Still she had been assured over and over again that for the next few weeks or so, depending on how she reacted to the medication it would be much of the same. Yet, for Xiao Lan, once she was at home and able to play Second Life this didn't seem to be that harsh of fate.

Now for her family it was a different story. Currently they were all bemoaning their lack of cook for the next good while and Xiao Lan could only glare harshly as they whispered in the corner. She wasn't sure if they were aware that she was awake or not, but either way she wanted something to throw at them.

Finally a doctor replacing Dr. Li came in and gave Xiao Lan one last check and a run through for homecare with her family before signing off on Xiao Lan checking out. She would have to come back in a week, but as it was Xiao Lan felt a huge amount of relief. It was difficult being away from everything even if it was only for a few days.

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><p>.<p>

A/N: Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. For everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate all your comments. It is terribly fun to read the speculation about what is going to happen next. Until next time, Zaijian!


	4. Chapter 4

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><p>.<p>

Chapter 4

To say that Gui was distracted when he went back to work on Monday was an understatement. Several of the other professors had commented on it, including Dr. Huang who was in the process of co-authoring a academic paper with him. He couldn't bring himself to care though and gradually his peers had left him to stew. This of course, had been after they had tried to get Lee Tian to talk to him since they were known to be good friends.

Unfortunately for all involved, Lee Tian had a similar attitude and only tried briefly with Gui before settling in beside them. Second Life had been miserable for them both without Prince.

It was amazing, to say the least, what impact Prince's mere presence in the game had on everyday life. Even when Prince was away on a journey or lost everyone always thought that if something went terribly wrong Prince would show up and save the day. After all hadn't it happened before? With Prince not logging on night after night, a gloom had settled over Infinite City. It was now dangerous to roam the streets as a lawlessness that had never existed before flourished.

Yu Lian had started to ask for more soldiers to roam the streets to keep players from breaking out into fights. There had even been a group of players going around accusing players of disrespecting prince and killing them. The complaints were mounting, and even with Gui being preoccupied about Prince's absence he was growing concerned about what would happen to Infinite City if Prince absence continued.

If someone else had become Lord of Infinite City it was difficult to say if the same thing would have happened. The struggle, Gui thought, was in that Prince inspired such devotion and faith that the removal of it had created a black hole of sorts. Like the Sun had been stolen from them with no way of getting it back.

Gui stared sightlessly as he stood at the front of his class that was slowly filling with students. The young adults seemed to feel the dark mood of their professor and reacted by being almost completely silent. It created an eerie mood that built upon itself until the tension in the classroom was almost suffocating. Gui only vaguely noticed.

BANG! The classroom door swung open causing a visible ripple as students startled from the noise. Gui himself finally pulled himself from his dark thoughts to see Feng Ming stomp into the classroom. He was unimpressed with his student's actions for more than one reason. Feng Ming was Feng Wu in Second Life, but neither he or Wicked would say anything about Prince's condition other than he would be back soon. In some ways Gui could respect that since Prince had been clear that he valued his privacy. On the other hand… Gui desperately needed to know that Prince was okay! With this annoyance in mind, Feng Ming acting up just grated on Gui even more.

"Feng Ming please take your seat quietly. Class will begin in approximately a minute and if you haven't logged your presence you will receive a tardy." Gui walked to the board and started his lesson. One student came in late looking shame faced. Gui didn't bother to address the student however as everyone knew what the consequences were for their grade for each tardy and absence. He reflected somewhat gratefully that he didn't have to bother taking roll himself like his own professors had been forced to do.

By the end of class Gui had once again drifted into his own thoughts about Second Life and Prince. Many of the students had followed likewise while still taking down notes as he wrote up on the board. Such was college life for both professors and students. It was a relief to end the class with a quick reminder of the paper that was due next class period. A groan resounded through the classroom but Gui paid it no mind. It was only a fifteen page paper for goodness sake.

As students were exiting the classroom Gui walked over to the classroom tablet that recorded the roll for him as well as class quizzes that the students sometimes took electronically. There were the two regular absentees as well as the one tardie, but on top of that there was a surprise. Feng Lan had been absent.

This was notable first, because Feng Lan had never been absent, unlike her twin brother. Secondly, because she was one of the only female students that Gui had enjoyed a real conversation with. Gui looked for Feng Ming who still was gathering his things. He had fallen asleep the last portion of class and hadn't started gathering his things together as the end drew nigh unlike many of the other students.

"Feng Ming, if you would come to the front of the class, I have something I would like to ask you." The remaining students seemed to think that Feng Ming was in trouble as they exchanged looks before hurrying even faster to get out of the classroom.

Feng Ming frowned a bit as he finished putting his things in his bag and came to the front of the classroom. "What is it professor?"

"I noticed that Feng Lan was absent today, do you know why?" It was likely that Feng Lan was just sick, but sometimes students were pulled from classes for various academic reasons.

"She's sick." Feng Ming said blandly, clearly looking like he wanted to leave the classroom as soon as possible.

Ah such an expected answer, Gui mentally began pulling away from the conversation. "Well then, I hope that she gets better soon. Remind her that her essay is due on Wednesday…"

Feng Ming interrupted him, "She won't be back on Wednesday."

Gui's eyebrows rose. "Is she that ill?"

A dark expression spread on Feng Ming's face. "She caught Mono from somewhere, so she has to home study for the next couple weeks. I already reported it to the school nurse."

Gui frowned, Feng Lan was one of his better students, she was going to be gone that long? "I am sorry to hear that. I will communicate with the school nurse about Feng Lan's school work directly then." Gui paused. "I appreciate you telling me."

Feng Ming nodded, "I'll head off to my next class then. Bye professor."

As his student left the classroom Gui gathered up his own things. He had another class to get to in an hour which would give him enough time to go and see Lee Tian. He could ask about the situation with Feng Ming as well as have a sympathetic ear about Prince.

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><p>.<p>

Xiao Lan was relieved to get home, if exhausted from the journey. Her parents had done their best to let her sleep in the car, but once she got home she immediately fell asleep on the couch. By the time she woke up it was after dinner and her brother was home from school. It looked like they had already eaten too from the scattered takeout boxes that littered the counter. Apparently the family had decided that while she was sick they would simply order in. She slowly raised herself off the couch and reached for her water. Although she was hungry she didn't have the energy to go and see if there was any food left. In a few minutes she was going to pass out from exhaustion anyway.

That thought jolted her. She had to get to her bed where her Second Life console was! She looked over to her bedroom door. It had never felt so far away before…

Xiao Lan concentrated and slowly stood. She could feel herself swaying from side to side, but she knew she would make it if she worked hard enough. She took one step, then another. Xiao Lan began feeling more confident even as her vision began to spin. She took a third step and cleared the couch and coffee table, just a little further…

As Xiao Lan tried to take her last step she realized that she couldn't lift her foot enough to drag any further. She had already moved her weight forward though and was horrified as the floor came up to meet her. With a last ditch attempt to protect her face Xiao Lan raised her arms.

Something soft caught her. Startled Xiao Lan looked up and saw the scowling face of her younger brother. "What the heck are you doing Xiao Lan?"

Xiao Lan wasn't going to be cowed so easily though. "I need to get to my room. I don't want to accidentally sleep away the whole night and miss everyone on Second Life."

This seemed to make sense to Feng Ming. Still, he wouldn't let the subject go so quickly. He nagged her as he helped her the rest of the way to her bedroom. "You should have just called for me or mom and dad. Don't be stupid and not ask for help."

"I'm not stupid, I would have made it… eventually."

Feng Ming snorted and plopped Xiao Lan down onto her bed. He looked at her speculatively for a moment and then yelled loudly for their mom.

Xiao Lan winced. "Why did you do that?" She let herself lay down on the bed, but pinched herself to stay awake for a bit longer.

"If you're going to bed for the night you probably want to get changed into your pajamas, and there is nothing in the universe that could make me help you with that. That's what moms are for anyway…"

Feng Ming's head suddenly jerked forward as their mom entered the room and lightly knocked her son's head for the comment.

"Yes, that's exactly why I had children Feng Ming." The sarcastic humor was plain in their mom's voice.

Feng Ming winced as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah… well I will let you to get to it." With that Feng Ming escaped from the room.

Her mom sat down beside her on the bed and gently felt her forehead. "Are you sure you don't want something to eat before going to bed? I have some soup that I can heat for you."

Even though she was hungry Xiao Lan could barely keep her eyes open. "No its okay, in the morning…" Xiao Lan mumbled. "Don't let me fall asleep without starting Second Life alright?"

Her mother frowned slightly even as he daughter's eyes fell shut. "Are you sure you should be playing Second Life right away?" Her daughter didn't answer as sleep started to overcome her again.

With a sad smile she quickly helped her daughter change with only small mumbles in response. She briefly considered just letting her daughter sleep through the night and not bother with the virtual reality game, but then again her daughter had been very insistent. With a sigh she gently woke up Xiao Lan.

"Honey, do you want to start the game now?"

Drowsily Xiao Lan nodded, her mother put the head set over her eyes. "Goodnight sweetheart." Her mother leaned down and kissed her forehead before pressing the button on the console to start.

"See you on the other side." She brushed her hands through her daughters hair once last time before turning off the light and shutting the door.

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><p>.<p>

When Prince got online there were several people that instantly noticed and began trying to whisper him. Gui was not among them. This at first caused a rush of disappointment in Prince even as he noted that it was still early in the evening for many Second Life players. Plus Gui was probably busy with plenty of other things other than the game.

The attempts at reason did little to soothe Prince. Instead she focused on Lolidragon who had logged in early that night. Prince was a bit stunned to find out that while she was gone Infinite City had experience a huge increase in crime and that Yu Lian and Lolidragon were desperately trying to get a head start on that day's chaos. Lolidragon had no qualms ordering Prince to meet them immediately so that they could address the problem together.

Prince had a suspicion that he would play a key role in whatever plan the two of them were brewing. A shudder ran down his back. Even with the looming craziness he was no doubt going to face Prince couldn't help a smile that crept up on his face. It was nice to be back.

As Prince walked down the stairs from his room where he had last logged off he was glad to see that while he was still weak it was nothing compared to the last time he had been on the game. Still it would be good to watch himself, last time he had gradually felt weaker and weaker.

By the time Prince found Lolidragon and Yu Lian (after getting lost several times) he suspected that he was right about getting weaker the longer he was in game. While he hadn't been doing anything too active, well aside from running away from some fan girls that spotted him, there was a small but notable difference in the energy that he felt. It would be frustrating to try and explain why he couldn't do certain activities to his friends, not unless he wanted to end up totally exhausted in game like before.

Finally Prince swung open the door to the restaurant where his friends were waiting. Everyone turned to look at him, he in turn responded the blood elf's cold expression, it was the only way he could stop a blush from covering his face. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he could see a dark blur moving towards him rapidly. Alarmed he tried to turn to face this new threat only to gasp as he was hit by the force and pulled into a bone crushing hug.

"Gui!" Prince shouted once he realized who it was who had attacked him.

"Your highness! The world becomes so much brighter now that you are here! When I discovered your presence I tried to send you my affections only to find some evil prevented me from communicating with you. Oh my only light in this dreary world, I could only come here to wait for you, but now you're here!" Gui continued to ramble on while Prince struggled faintly against his solid grip. Finally he just started beating his fist lightly against Gui's head.

"Let" Hit. "Me" Hit. "Go" Hit. "Gui!"

Princes struggles were weak, but Gui seemed to finally get the message. He pulled away looking battered.

Finally released from the death grip that Gui had contained him with Prince explained what had happened, "There were too many people trying to whisper me so after I talked to Lolidragon I decided to block whispers for a little while. There wasn't any 'evil' preventing you from talking to me" Prince rolled his eyes to make a point.

Gui pouted. "Your highness, couldn't you have just blocked everyone but your party members?"

Prince couldn't prevent a blush from rising at this statement. Gui usually didn't point out obvious facts that he had missed. The older man must have been pretty frustrated to mention it so bluntly.

"Ah, yeah… next time?" Prince said questioningly.

Gui's expression showed his disbelief for a brief second before morphing into a happy smile. "Of course you will your highness, Gui knows that you would never take away his only light in the world for no reason at all…" Prince couldn't help but feel that there was a slight threat hidden in that statement.

Suddenly Gui grabbed hold of his hand and started pulling him further into the restaurant. "Gui?" Prince cried out alarmed.

Gui turned to talk to him even as they kept moving inwards. "Now that you are better Prince we need to talk to you about taking care of yourself." Gui nodded seriously as Prince's horrified expression grew.

"What? No…" Prince tugged against Gui grip. "I take care of myself just fine Gui! What about planning to fix Infinite City?"

"Hmm oh that? Your beautiful countenance has already done more for Infinite City than any plan could do." Gui paused for a moment. "Though I think Lolidragon may want you do a publicity stunt of some sort later on."

They stopped abruptly in front of the table that Prince's companions were at. Wolf and Doll seemed to have gotten there before Prince as well.

After everyone greeted Prince, Lolidragon immediately turned the conversation straight to business.

"Alright, part 1 of restore Infinite City's sanity is done with, now we just need Prince to give a speech to reassure the people that he's alright."

Doll popped up, "I still think that we should do a parade instead. Speeches are boring in comparison."

The discussion between the girls continued and Prince became worried about how much they were going to require him to do. While it was nice that his friends didn't assume he was still invalid he still had planned to take it easy for a few days. He leaned his head against his hand tiredly. The creeping exhaustion really was annoying.

"Your highness, are you alright?" Gui asked quietly while the table's conversation continued on.

Prince glanced over at Gui before nodding in answer.

A frown flashed across Gui's face. "Prince you didn't get on even though you were still sick did you?"

Uh oh… "Ahh…" Prince said hesitantly. "I am getting better…"

Gui's expression darkened. For a split second it looked like he was going to say something before changing his mind. Instead he turned to face the rest of the table who were now discussing the benefits of first having a parade and _then _a speech.

"Unfortunately the second part of the plan will have to wait." Gui stood and loomed over the table catching everyone's attention. "His highness is still ill. I am going to take him back to his room to rest."

To everyone's surprise, Gui swiftly reached down and picked up Prince bridal style.

At first Prince was too stunned to even try to escape. "Gui? Gui? What are you doing? Put me down!" Prince yelped while trying to escape.

Gui paid no mind however, and ran away with Prince in his arms before anyone at the table could respond further but to stare wide eyed.

"GUI!" Prince's cry rang out even as it grew fainter and fainter.

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><p>.<p>

Much to Prince's displeasure he hadn't been able to escape Gui's hold until they were midway up the flight of stairs going to his room. Normally Prince would have been able to escape much sooner plus crushed Gui into the floor for even thinking about picking him up. Unfortunately the effects of being sick in real life were already coming down on him hard.

The fact that Prince escaped Gui's hold on the stairs though had just been unlucky.

Prince groaned as he held his head. He had used all his healing potions the last time he logged in and having is brain bounce repeatedly on the steps was not his idea of fun.

Gui was in a similar position, but instead of focusing on his own injuries, was fluttering around Prince in a panic.

"Just… stop Gui!" Prince groaned. The bard was sometimes way too much. "Just take me up to my room. I think there are some healing potions up there."

For a moment nothing happened as Gui took in the fact that Prince was willing to let himself be carried. With a small worried smile Gui picked him up and held him tightly while they completed the rest of their journey.

Gui kicked open the door and gently put Prince down on the bed before looking for the healing potions that Prince had mentioned. He was happy to note when he came back that Prince was sitting up and looking much healthier than the last time he had been in that bed.

"Here you are your highness. Please forgive your poor servant for causing you such pain."

Prince rolled his eyes. "What if I say no?"

Gui pouted heavily. "Alright, alright, you're forgiven." Prince paused before muttering. "It was my fault anyway for tripping you…"

Prince startled when Gui sat down beside him on the bed. Gui was pushing his luck… even if Prince felt like his energy was leaking out he still had his sword and could take Gui out with one slice. Well, maybe a couple with how he was feeling. How was it that he had ended up exhausted in his room, with Gui by his side, a second time? He turned his suspicious gaze towards Gui who looked innocently back.

"What are you doing Gui?" Prince glared fiercely at Gui whose face had crept slowly closer to his own.

The other man seemed to catch himself and pulled back. Instead he raised his hand and tried to feel Prince's forehead for his temperature only to be brushed away.

"I'm fine Gui!" The bard slowly stopped fluffing the pillow that he had turned his unwanted attention to.

"Are you really?" He asked quietly.

The air grew thick in the air between them. "Yeah of course I am…"

Gui turned to face him with a solemn expression. "You're still sick Prince. It's been days, and you're still exhausted in game after a few hours. Do you really think I will believe that?"

Prince's eyes widened, Gui's seriousness was always startling and sudden. "But I am…"

Gui cut him off, "Even if your fine this time, what am I supposed to do next time you disappear, or the next? What if you were in an accident? Or in the hospital?" Prince flinched guiltily.

There was stunned silence between them. "You were in the hospital?" Gui's horrified expression seemed to grow with every second that Prince stayed silent trying to figure out his answer.

"It wasn't a big deal Gui!" Denying it would have been futile at that point.

"You were in the hospital! What is it? What happened to you? Are you dying?" Throughout Gui's frantic questioning Prince had been trying to wave him off until the last question.

"What?" Prince burst out in exasperation. "What kind of stupid jump in logic is that? I'm not dying, I was only in the hospital for a few days!"

"A few days is a long time in a hospital! You could have cancer for all I know." Gui yelled out before pausing looking terrified, "You don't have cancer do you?"

Prince scowled darkly, "No! Stop being stupid, I just have Mono." There it was out and Gui could realize just how dumb the illness Prince had was and could go back to being his non-serious self.

"Mono?" Gui asked with a bemused expression. He was pretty sure he had heard that recently.

"Yes, so I will be tired for a while but that is pretty much it. So you can stop freaking out now." Prince grumbled.

Gui seemed to be thinking before turning to eye Prince suspiciously. Prince looked hesitantly back. "What?"

"Isn't Mono also known as the kissing disease?"

A fiery red blush raised across Prince's face. This time he didn't hesitate to grab his sword and send Gui to the afterlife, or rather to the rebirth point. There was no way he was going to have that conversation with Gui after all the teasing his family had already put him through.

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><p>.<p>

Gui winced as he came out of the rebirth point. Usually Prince avoided actually killing Gui when telling him he had gone too far. Still even dying had been worth the time he had spent with Prince, even though he had been stupid and made a foolish comment at the end.

That foolish comment did have some merit however. Gui wasn't terribly familiar with the disease aside from knowing that it wasn't terribly serious but was definitely debilitating over a long period of time. He had heard of it just recently… Gui suddenly remember. Feng Lan! Her twin brother had reported that she had caught Mono and wouldn't be attending classes!

Gui's breath caught. Feng Yang Ming was Feng Wu in the game, the same Feng Wu who had gone to help Prince. Could it be… A horrified expression grew on Gui's face. Prince must know Feng Lan in real life. Not only know but maybe they were dating? How else could they contract a _kissing_ disease at the same time? This whole time Feng Lan had probably been laughing at him. Maybe that had even been why she had asked him out on that date—to check out the competition! She sure hadn't seemed terribly let down when he had told her that he couldn't be interested in her.

He clenched his fists tightly. Maybe he shouldn't jump to conclusions. Mono could just be going around. He hardly knew anything about the disease. Gui came to a swift conclusion. He needed to know more, and Prince wouldn't want his company for at least a few hours anyway.

Gui logged off Second Life and immediately pulled out his laptop. It wouldn't be until the early morning hours that he would finally shut down his computer and call it a night.

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><p>.<p>

A/N: Well things are starting to get moving. I am hoping I will get the next chapter up sooner than later as I already have a good part of it written. I decided to cut this chapter off a little early ;) I hope you enjoyed it and definitely let me know what you thought! Thanks :)


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